


Names are never spoken

by risinggreatness



Series: Circle 'round the sun [101]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-27
Updated: 2015-02-27
Packaged: 2018-03-15 11:58:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3446339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/risinggreatness/pseuds/risinggreatness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fives returns to explain his desertion and reveal the truth behind Order 66 (TCW s6 retool)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Names are never spoken

The call is put out in good faith; Ahsoka should be less disappointed when no replies come.

“One Jedi asking for old Imp – sorry, Republic soldiers to show up in a sea of Rebels? You can’t be surprised no one wants to show,” Han reminds her.

Ahsoka hasn’t seen anyone’s face in years. It condemned rebel clones from the start and then the Empire stopped wanting even the compliant ones.

Still, she holds out hope someone will want reprieve from what the last government did to them.

( _Can there even be any left with the accelerated growth built into their bodies?_ )

Then he stumbles in, half-dazed, possibly not sure where he even is. Pilots and deck crew noticeably keep their distance, more for his demeanor than his face. His hair is scraggly and long, almost obscuring him and certainly not military regulation, but Ahsoka recognizes him all the same.

He’s a face Ahsoka hasn’t seen in even longer than all those betrayals. Whatever time may have done to her, it’s been worse for him.

“Fives!”

“Commander!” he calls back, old joviality in his greeting, like they’d never left, like he hadn’t up and deserted the army one day.

( _Ironic, how his premature desertion saved him from punishment._ )

Ahsoka pulls him into an empty side room buried in headquarters’ labyrinth. Luke and Leia are summoned from their respective duties.

“Who’s the company?” he asks, voice edged. If he starts distrusting her now, they might lose him for good.

Ahsoka makes the introductions; fellow Jedi, friends.

“Senator Organa was good to us clones. Nice to meet you.”

He says nothing to Luke.

“Why did you come? No other Republic clones have responded,” Leia asks, more curious than interrogative, but Luke shoots her a look.

“Fellow survivors gotta check up on each other,” Fives weakly chuckles in Ahsoka’s direction.

“You deserted earlier than the others,” Ahsoka points out, gut wrenching in memory of the dissent she witnessed. ( _She hadn’t counted on someone returning and how it would bring everyone running back. There hasn’t been word on Rex; she doubts there ever will be._ )

They wait in anticipation of his answer as Fives shuffles his feet and stares at the floor. Finally, he glances up at Luke before recounting what happened.

His face twists up, exaggerating age and scars.

“They implanted us with an inhibitor chip, to try and suppress our free will, you see. You hear about what Tup did to General Tiplar on Ringo Vinda?”

Ahsoka shakes her head, frustrated. Master Tiplar died valiantly on the battlefield. Anakin never brought up that campaign with her, but then again, she supposes he wasn’t talking to anyone but Paplatine in those days.

“Long story short, I investigated. Had to; Tup was my best mate! His chip malfunctioned and it killed him. Took my own out, but they caught me.”

True anger and frustration fill the lines in his face.

“Brought me to the Emperor – then Chancellor. I couldn’t place it but I _knew_ he had something to do with it. I just _knew_ it. Maybe it was the lack of the chip, but I tried to kill him right then and there. _That_ was a problem.”

Leia sucks in her breath loudly and Luke almost asks the next question while Fives licks his lips, but he continues first.

“I was gonna talk to General Skywalker and Captain Rex. Best for talking to when you were in trouble ‘cause they tended to cause their own.”

His eyes gleam knowingly at Ahsoka.

“We planned a secure meet point and everything but… I got spooked at the last minute and ran for good. The Chancellor had his claws in too deep.”

Nerves get the better of him as he turns his hands over in each other.

“I couldn’t believe it when I heard clones killed more Jedi. There was even a rumor that – maybe I better not.”

Gently, Ahsoka supports him, “Fives, there isn’t anything you can hide from us now that would be so terrible now.”

“I heard way down the line the 501st got orders direct from the General. Sorry, I know he was your master and I guess he’s your father,” he waves a hand at Luke, “but I can’t help sensing it’s true.”

Ahsoka sucks on her teeth; she imagines the rapid-fire silent discussion between Luke and Leia. Fives knows the truth, mired in rumor and dim word of mouth, but she aches that he clearly doesn’t want to believe it.

Though their silence must have already confirmed it, Ahsoka speaks out, “All I do know is that Captain Rex directly disobeyed Commander Cody. I don’t know who else from the 501st didn’t follow orders.”

Fives’s wrinkles smooth, delighted at least one of them broke ranks.

“Have you heard from the captain?”

“Last I saw him he was being carted away, but it was hard to see in the blaster fire.”

Fives’s face falls.

He continues, “I did see the odd trooper here and there over the years. Stayed with a farmer who left the service even earlier than me! We got better at hiding in the end, I guess.”

_Or everyone forgot what you looked like._

More to himself than those present, “It still keeps me up at night though, why some of us killed Jedi if we were supposed to have those inhibitors.”

“The Force.”

Luke finally speaks.

“Sorry?”

Leia expounds simply on her brother’s answer, “All life has the Force. You may have been manufactured for a means to an end, but you were still alive. You had the free will to resist what you knew to be wrong. Others were not so fortunate.”

Ahsoka hopes Anakin is truly proud, wherever he is. ( _The whole Order, really._ )

“I… never even thought of it that way.”

Ahsoka’s heart crumbles. Had they really been so negligent with their men to make them believe they could not achieve the same?

A ding sounds. From Leia’s comm, “Senator, please report up to the office. If General Skywalker is there, bring him too.”

Ahsoka nods to them and they begin to leave, but Fives calls back for them.

“Thank you.”

Smiles acknowledge.

Ahsoka and Fives move out as well, into the hangar and near the entrance. People dodge out of their way as they pass. They’re getting used to Ahsoka being around, but she’s still an oddity, a remnant from something most of them don’t remember.

“I didn’t really want to bring it up with his son around, but _did_ the general put out the order?”

Ahsoka says nothing, willing him to understand what none of them did.

“Although, I suppose he did face that Sith in the end. That counts for something, right?” he concedes.

Quietly, “I suppose it does.”

Fives looks around curiously. Ahsoka interjects in his contemplation of the place, “You should stay. We can make sure you’re okay, that –”

“Nah, I don’t belong here. It’s good though you’re using people who are willing to fight.”

Tentatively, “Do you regret your time in the service?”

“Not a second. But I’m ready for peace. Some real quiet.”

“And don’t waste a second of it,” Ahsoka keeps to herself.

There’s no need to say it out loud. He won’t.

**Author's Note:**

> See author bio for discussion on this 'verse.


End file.
